


Just You

by rusting_roses



Category: Maria-sama ga Miteru
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-21
Updated: 2012-12-21
Packaged: 2017-11-21 20:44:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/601890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rusting_roses/pseuds/rusting_roses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You don’t need to be Sachiko, or Youko, anyone – just you."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gunfus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gunfus/gifts).



“Gokigenyou!”

Even now, it’s habit for Yumi to greet anyone who attended Lillian Academy with those words, but it doesn’t make Satou do anything more than grin and wave at her from her seat in the café, while others laugh at her formal habits and encourage her to be less stiff. “Gokigenyou, Yumi!” Satou says, standing so she can twirl Yumi around in a hug that makes Yumi dizzy; not that she was expecting anything less from the Rosa Gigantea. “I hope you don’t mind; I ordered you tea, the way you like it,” Satou said, gesturing at the table. There’s also a cake there, for them to share, with strawberries, just like Yumi adores, and she feels her heart lighten at how this is so reassuring, so familiar, and so good.

“How are you doing? Are you excited for graduation yet? Have you had your first student council meeting? Has Sachiko been back to visit you yet? I’m sure she has, she could never leave someone as cute as you alone!” At that, Satou grins and tugs Yumi’s cheeks slightly, until Yumi twists out of her grip. She protests Satou’s behavior, as Yumi always does; Satou just laughs, as she always does. “If not, you’re always welcome to visit someone who properly appreciates your ridiculous faces!”

“Eh?” Yumi asks, rubbing her cheeks and focusing on the one thing that she isn’t too embarrassed to address. “But graduation – that’s a whole year away!” Except it’s not really; it’s just mere months away now, with school starting again in just a few days. It doesn’t quite seem real, though, that she’ll be leaving Lillian Academy so soon; just as Yumi can’t quite stop picturing Satou Sei as Rosa Gigantea, despite Shimako holding the position for a year now, neither can she quite believe that Sachiko is gone. Though the elections left Yumi with the official title of Rosa Chinesis, and despite the fact that Yumi had cried such bittersweet tears at the graduation which had left Yumi bereft of the comforting presence of Sachiko in the halls of Lillian Academy, Yumi can't quite believe that it’s finally her turn to step into Sachiko’s shoes. Not just Sachiko’s, though, but Mizuno’s, too, and all the Rosa Chinesis that came before them, back to when the tradition of choosing a soeur first started.

Now that she is standing on her own, though, a member of the Yamayurikai, Yumi is terrified not just of being Rosa Chinesis, but of the fact that she will be graduating soon too, and with no real idea of what she wants to do in the future. She feels lost, and overwhelmed, so much so that Yumi finds her heart pounding for what might happen, scared that she might dishonor all the strength and wisdom and kindness that had come before her. The café fades away, drink untouched, as she sees all the ways in which she can fail.

There was so much tradition, so much history, and now it was all on Yumi’s shoulders; this wasn’t the first time she’d come to that realization, but it was somehow so much more terrifying, when she sees Satou in front of her; Yumi remembers those early days, and how lost she’d been. “It’s so much!”

Satou laughs at her, kindly, and there is the amusement on her face that she always gets when Yumi has been making faces again; it makes Yumi duck her head and mutter apologies under her breath, shoulders stiffening slightly. That, of course, makes Satou bring Yumi in for a hug.

Satou and Sachiko hug in such different ways, Yumi knows, and she loves them both. Satou is all brashness and eagerness, demanding almost, except she is kind, too, and always smiling and it makes Yumi want to hug her back. Sachiko is quiet strength, and gentleness, and full of that soft intensity that first attracted Yumi to Sachiko.

They’re both warm, though. That’s the best, and most important part. When Yumi is there, in their arms, she feels safe and warm.

“I know Sachiko’s probably told you this,” Satou murmurs kindly. She has her hand on top of Yumi’s head, quietly protective. Grounding. “And I know you believed her, because she’s your soeur, and you know she’s right, and that you can do this. But just in case you need to hear it again…” Satou’s voice starts mimicking Sachiko’s elegant speech patterns. “There’s no need for you to worry. You should be you, and no more, no less. You don’t need to be Sachiko, or Youko, anyone – just you.” Yumi can hear the grin in Satou’s voice, and the warmth there. There’s warmth in her arms, too, and it makes Yumi’s mouth curve in response. “Does that sound like what Sachiko said? It’s been a while since I’ve spoken like her.” Another laugh, quick and bright.

“Yes,” Yumi admits, and she’s a little embarrassed to do so. Just hearing those reassurances, though, remembering the way Sachiko had murmured them with affection, and hearing them again now from Satou – Yumi’s heart feels overfull. It makes her breath catch, just a little, and it’s a moment before she can bring herself to pull away from Satou’s strength. “You’re right – you’re both right.”

“Of course I am!” Satou replies carelessly, and then laughs again. “Now, enough of this, you’re going to be fine. Your tea, however, is not; it’s getting cold! A shame, after all that time I spent carefully making sure it was perfect. Are you going to waste my hard work?”

“No! Never!” Yumi exclaimed, half-falling towards the table. “Ah!” She managed to make it into the chair in one piece, taking a sip of her tea. It was as perfect as Satou claimed, and they smiled at one another from across the table. “Thank you. It was very kind of you.” She doesn’t just mean the tea, of course, but she can’t just say that to Satou, or she’ll brush it off. Yumi doesn’t know how she’d have made it through all these years, without her friends, without Sachiko. They are always there for her, full of kind words.

Yumi loves them.

Sei smiles at Yumi from across the table, and Yumi returns it; after all, she need not say anything further.

Sei already knows.


End file.
